The Nonunilinear Descent Groups of Samoa1

Abstract

pERHAPS as many as one-third of the world's societies lack unilinear descent. Yet, nonunilinear descent groups have received very little attention from anthropological theorists; consequently, as Murdock (1949:57) has observed, . . . ethnographers rarely notice their presence and almost never report their absence. This is in spite of the fact that we have much evidence, unclassified to be sure, that descent groups are present in many nonunilinear societies. For example, we know that Samoa lacks unilinear descent groups. But there clearly are other kinds of descent group in Samoa which, owing to our traditional indifference to such groups, have not been clearly identified in the literature. The present paper, which is based upon data I collected in American Samoa during 1955-56,2 is designed to fill this gap in the literature. In so doing, it seeks to show that the hitherto elusive data on nonunilinear descent groups are as amenable to systematic study as the data on unilinear descent groups. Traditional classifications of kinship systems cannot help us in identifying the descent groups of Samoa since these classifications have dealt primarily with unilinear kinship structure. If we are to identify the Samoan descent groups so that they might be systematically compared with descent groups elsewhere, we must first have a classification which abstracts the major types of nonunilinear descent group, preferably in a way which permits their comparison with unilinear types. We are fortunate that a paper by Davenport, which appears in the present issue, provides us with such a classification. Surveying the ethnographic literature, Davenport finds that nonunilinear descent groups are coordinate in most respects with unilinear descent groups. Accordingly, he suggests or implies the following typology of nonunilinear kinship structure. Corresponding to the unilinear term the term sept is proposed for the nonunilinear descent group whose members acknowledge a bond of common descent but are unable to trace the actual genealogical connections between individuals (see Murdock 1949:47 for the definition of a sib). In the sib, the bond of common descent is said to reside in the paternal or maternal line; but in the sept, the bond of common descent is said to reside in either or both lines. A descent group produced by either unilinear or nonunilinear descent is known as a lineage when it includes only persons who can actually trace their common relationship through a specific series of remembered genealogical links in the given line or lines of descent (cf. Murdock 1949:46). Groups intermediate between sibs (or septs) and lineages may be called sub-sibs (or sub-septs). And lastly, the term clan can still be reserved for the localized segment of a sib (or sept), plus